CHASE TOOK AN IRONIC TURN RECENTLY. THE SUSPECT WAS ACTUALLY BEING RESCUED BY THE VERY POLICE HE WAS RUNNING FROM. AS KOAT ACTION 7 NEWS REPORTER REGINA RUIZ EXPLAINS, AN APD SERGEANT SAVED THE MAN FROM DROWNING -- AND IT WAS ALL CAUGHT ON CAMERA.. A CHASE, RUNNING THIS POLICE CHASE STARTED OFF LIKE MANY OTHERS. SOUND OF CHASE AND COMMANDS "WE HAVE GUNS OUT: WHEN AT THE CANAL BANK BUT, IT DIDN'T END LIKE OTHER CHASES. This is the first time in 15 years I've actually ended up in water : POLICE WENT TO ARREST A SUSPECT WITH 18 FELONIES. HIS MOST RECENT CRIME, PULLING A GUN OUT ON A HOME DEPOT LOSS PREVENTION EMPLOYEE. THE SUSPECT TOOK OFF RUNNING, THEN: He jumped into the canal that was full of water. THE CHASE TOOK A TURN. The time that he was in the water and it seemed that he was struggling to keep his head above water I was concerned for his safety. ALBUQUERQUE POLICE SGT. DENNIS TAFOYA HAD TO MAKE A QUICK DECISION. At one point the thought crossed my mind, does he want me to get into the water so that he can escalate, so that he can get into a physical altercation with me? THE SUSPECT WAS DROWNING. I made a decision that I was going to go in and help him get to dry land. SGT. TAFOYA JUMPED IN WITH ALL OF HIS GEAR ON. By the time I was in the water he had no energy to even help himself walk to the dry bank THE WATER WAS CHEST DEEP, SGT. TAFOYA WAS STRUGGLING HIMSELF IN THE STRONG CURRENT. I was telling him 'help yourself Jerry,' you need to help yourself. FINALLY, HE HELPED THE SUSPECT OUT OF THE WATER, SAFELY. Any day of the week you will find a police officer saving somebody's life. That's what we do. We're trained to help people. AND AS FOR THE SUSPECT. I did ask him, I said, Jerry if you had to do this again, would you do it again. He looked at me smiled and said, yeah I probably would. REGINA RUIZ, KOAT